Safety

Throughout the entire project lifecycle, safety remains the core issue of our primary concern. From experimental design to laboratory operations, every step adheres to strict safety protocols and ethical guidelines. The team is committed to complying with international biosafety standards and iGEM safety guidelines to ensure all experiments are conducted in a responsible and safe manner.

Our safety strategy encompasses four aspects: project design safety, laboratory safety, personnel training and management. The specific measures are as follows.

In this project, DH5α, TOP10, and BL21(DE3) were employed as chassis organisms. All the aforementioned strains are categorized under Biosafety Level 1 (BSL-1) and have been fully included in the iGEM Safe Organism Whitelist, presenting extremely low potential risks to human health and the environment; all of which are classified as Risk Group 1 organisms (non-pathogenic and low risk to humans).

All engineered organisms in this project are designed for "controlled use," and there is no plan to release them beyond the scope of laboratory control. If the project is advanced toward practical applications in the future (e.g., for the production of educational props), we will utilize sealed equipment and conduct comprehensive safety tests to ensure that the modified E. coli does not enter the natural environment.

Key Points for Ensuring Experimental Operational Safety

To ensure safety, experiments strictly adhere to documents such as the Regulations on the Management of Laboratory Biosafety of Wuhan University. The core points are as follows:

• 1. Compliant Facilities: Experiments are conducted in BSL-1 laboratories that meet regulatory requirements. The facilities satisfy hygiene, fire protection and other standards, and are equipped with autoclaves, aseptic operating tables and other equipment.
• 2. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Members must wear compliant lab coats, closed-toe shoes, long pants, and disposable gloves.
• 3. Operational Specifications: Only trained members are allowed entry; eating, drinking or storing food is prohibited; microbial operations are performed in biosafety cabinets following standard procedures and disinfection protocols; containers must not be pointed at anyone's face.
• 4. Equipment Safety: Conduct regular maintenance and safety inspections of equipment; use electrical devices like electrophoresis apparatuses in compliance with electrical safety rules; first-time use of hazardous equipment (e.g., autoclaves) must be supervised by experienced members or teachers; wear goggles when using inverted fluorescence microscopes; the last person leaving must check and turn off risk-prone equipment (e.g., ovens, water baths) before locking up.
• 5. Chemical Safety: Hazardous chemicals (e.g., DMSO) are stored separately with clear labels; high-risk operations (e.g. Exchange methyl formate for DMSO by rotary evaporation.) are performed by professional lab technicians from the College of Chemistry and Molecular Science, Wuhan University; low-risk chemicals are prioritized (e.g., GelRed instead of ethidium bromide for nucleic acid staining).

All team members must receive comprehensive safety training to acquire the ability to conduct experiments safely before initiating any experiment. The specific contents include:

• 1. Personnel Screening and Verification: Prioritize recruiting individuals with basic experimental operation experience to ensure they have the foundational ability to understand safety protocols.
• 2. Safety Awareness and Regulation Training: Cover the cultivation of laboratory safety awareness, standardized disposal procedures for chemical and biological waste, etc., to strengthen members' safety responsibility awareness.
• 3. Project-Specific Practical Training: Conduct specialized biosafety practical training targeting biological materials and experimental operations involved in the project, ensuring members master targeted operational skills.
• 4. Emergency Response Training: Explain emergency response procedures for potential accidents in experiments (such as bacterial liquid leakage and chemical reagent spillage) to ensure members can promptly take correct countermeasures in emergency situations.

In summary, our WHU-China 2025 team will strictly comply with the aforementioned safety rules throughout the entire lifecycle of the LOGIC project. Meanwhile, we will continuously identify and control potential risks, maintain a safe and reliable experimental working environment, and minimize potential hazards to other iGEM teams, university colleagues, society, and the environment to the greatest extent possible.